Improvement in revolving fire-arms



NITED STATES PATENT Ormea@ JOSEPH RIDER, OF NEWARK, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVOLVING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 23,861, dated May 3,1859.

To all whom t't may concern:

Be it known that I, J osErH RIDER, of Newark, in the county of Licking and State oi Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful improvements in that class of tire-arms known as Revolvers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specication, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a pistol with my improvements, representing it with one side of the stock removed to expose the lock. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section of the same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the lock. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the same. Fig. 5 is a back view of the cylinder.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures. l

My invention relates to that kind of revolver which is in most common use-viz., that having a fixed barrel and a chambered cylinder rotating on an axis parallel with the bore of the barrel.

My invention consists in a certain novel simple construction and mode of applying and combining the several parts of the lock of a revolver, whereby they Vare made capable of operation in a very effective and certain manner, either by the trigger alone tor very rapidly-repeated tiring, or by the cocking of the hammer and firing only by the trigger for firing more deliberately and with more accurate aim.

It also consists in so constructing the trigger-guard as to serve as a spring for operating the device which locks the cylinder during the act of tiring, as a lever for operating the rammer, and as a spring for locking itself in place as the trigger-guard.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the metal frame, whose front part contains the rotating chambered cylinder O, and has secured toit the barrel B, and vWhose back part constitutes the principal portion of the stock and contains the lock, by which term I mean to include the hammer and` trigger and all the mechanism through whose agency the cooking and letting off the hammer, the rotation, and the locking and unlocking of the cylinder are effected. l

D is the hammer, which is arranged in the usual manner to work on a fixed pin, a, but which,instead of having the usual notches to be engaged by a sear for holding it cocked, or at half-cock, is mortised perpendicularly to the arbor to receive within it a portion of a dog, E, which I will term the cocking-dog, which is attached to the hammer in front of the pin a by a pin, b, and whichhas on its upper side two ratchet-like notches, c and d, to

engage with astationary stop,e, which is properly arranged within the frame A, the first notch, c, engaging with the said stop to hold the hammer at half-cock, and the second, d, engaging with it to hold the hammer at fullcock when the hammer is drawn back, pulling directly upon it. rIhe said cooking-dog has also a notch, f, in its extremity for the purpose 0f receiving a tooth, g, which is formed on the trigger F, (see Fig. 1,) and which enters the said notch for the purposes of effecting the operations of the hammer and cylinder through the sole agency of the trigger for rapidly-repeated tiring, as will be hereinafter described. The said cockng-dog has also on one side a long thin tooth, h, whose duty is to operate on a tooth, t", attached to a locking-lever, G, for the purpose of unlocking the cylinder from the said lever G to permit the cylinder to be rotated by the act of cooking the hammer.

H is the mainspring, which, instead of being connected with the hammer either directly or by a stirrup, is connected by a stirrup, I, with the cooking-dog E, said stirrup being attached to the said dog by a pin, j, arranged just in rear of the pin b, which attaches the said dog to the hammer, and between the latter pin and the main pin e of the hammer. The spring thus applied exerts its force to throw forward the hammer, and also to hold up the front portion of the cooking-dog, which it always tends to keep in contact with the stop c.

Io equalize, as far as possible, the power exerted by the spring on the hammer throughout the whole movement of the hammer, I provide a notch, z, in the stationary pin a, on which the hammer works, said notch being. cut about half way through said pin in order that when the hammer is at full-cock and the spring subject to its greatest degree of strain the stirrup I, by entering the said notch, as shownin Fig. 2, may pull as nearly'as practicable in a direct line between the point of attachment of the spring and the center of motion of the hammer.

J is the rotating dog, which is in some re spects like the dog commonly employed to effeet the rotation of the cylinder by the act of cocking the hammer, and operatesin a similar maunerin a series of notches,l l, in the back ot' the cylinder. This dogJ lies looselyin aplace provided for it within the frame A, between the hammer and the side of the stock, which confine it as far necessary in a lateral direction, and it is kept from slipping downward or backward out of its place partly by a spring, m, attached to its back, which rests against the back of the cavity in the frame A, and partly by a pin, n, attached to the heel o ofthe trigger,said pin entering a slot, p, in the said dog J.

The said dog J has a projection, q, on one side, which is always above a horn, r, on the front part ofthe hammer butt or tumbler, and by the action of the said horn r on the said projection q the said dog is caused to rise and rotate the cylinder when the hammer is drawn back by hand to cock it.

When the operations of raising the hammer, revolving the cylinder, and firin g are performed solely bythe act of pullingthe trigger, the dogJ is operated by the pinn, attached to the trigger, the said pin moving up in the slot p during the first part of the movement of the trigger to afford opportunity for the ratchet-notch d of the cockiug'dog to be thrown clear of the stop e, and then coming in contact with the top of the said slot 1J and forcing up the dog J to produce the rotation ofthe cylinder. The cylinder is prevented beingcarried too far by the said rotating dog J, havingthe portion above the slotp so formed, as shown at S in Figs. l and 2, as to enter notchesff in the rear portion ofthe periphery of the cylinder to stop it as the movement ofthe dog ceases.

The trigger F is differently formed from the triggers otl all or most other fire-arms, having its heel o some distance lower than the pin s, which consitutes its center of motion, the said heel being only just Wide enough to give it strength to carry the pin a, and at the side of this heel is the tooth g, which serves the purpose of letting off the hammer to tire the piece at all times, and also serves the purpose ofengaging in the notchf of the cooking-dog E to raise or throw back the hammer when the entire operation of the piece is effected through the agency of the trigger. In the last-mentoned operation, when the trigger is pulled back, the said tooth first strikes the lower side ofthe notchf, and so depresse's the (zoekingdog so far that it is entirely clear of the stop e, and its point or edge then enteringinto the angle of the said notch holds the cooking-dog E steady and clear of the stop e, while it forces the said dog back and forces back the hammer, which continues to move back till the tooth g works out of the notch ou the upper side of the latter, and so liberates the dog and the hammer and leaves them both under the uncontrolled influence ofthe mainspring which forces forward the hammer. As the hammer falls and the dog E comes forward the said dog is caused to slide down the back of the trigger below the tooth g, and so prevented coming in contact with the stop c till the trigger is liberated and allowed to be moved forward by the pressure ofthe same dog produced by the mainspring, which spring, causing the said dog always to press forward against the trigger, renders a separate trigger-spring unnecessary. The trigger in heilig thrown forward pulls down the rotating dog. When thc trigger is only used to let oft' the hammer after the latter has been cocked the back of thc tooth g acts upon the lower edge of the front extremity of the cooking-dog, and so forces down the said {dog clear of the stop c, and when thus forced down the upper edge of the rear extremity ofthe dog passes the tooth g without catching it, and slides down the rear of the trigger, as before described, and during this operation of the trigger the pin n moves in the slotp without moving the dog J.

rlhe locking-lever G works on a fulcrum-piu, t, which is arranged very near the bottom ot the frameAand behind the cylinder, and also very near the bottom of the said lever. rlhc said lever has its upper end bent forward in the form of a bolt, as shown at fu, Fig. 2, to enter either one of a series of holes, u u, (see Fig. 5,) in the back ot' the cylinder, to lock it with its chambers iu line with the barrel at the time of firing, and it has a hook, w, on one side of its lower end to engage with a latch-like tooth, x, ou the rear end of the trigger-guard L, which is made to constitute at the same time a lever working on a fulcrum, y, in the front of the frame A for operating the ball-rammer M, and also serves as a spring to force back the lower end ot' the lever G and force forward its bolt c. By lnakiug the guard constitute a lever, and that lever light and elastic enough to constitute a spring, and with a latch, at the end, such lever is made to secure itself in position in which it constitutes the guard, beside serving to throw the lockinglever into action. The trigger-guard is unfastened from the hook w ofthe locking-lever to operate the rammer by pressing forward its rear end far enough to liberate the latchlike tooth The bolt of the locking-lever G is withdrawn from the holes u u in the cylinder by the action of the before-mentioned thin tooth L ot' the cooking-dog upon the tooth t', attached to the side ot' the locking-lever. The back edge of said tooth h, as the cooking-dog commences to move back with the hammer, presses against the tooth i, and so forces back the upper part of the lever Gr and draws its bolt from the cylinder, but owing to the thinness of the said tooth h its edge soon passes and its lower face arrives in contact with the tooth i, and so, though it then ceases to push the said tooth fi farther hack, continues to hold it till its front edge passes the saidtooth and lets the lever G escape. The bolt 'v then coutinues in contact with the back of the cylinder C until, as the action of the rotating dog J ceases, a hole u arrives opposite to the said bolt for it to drop into and lock the cylinder for the next fire.

What I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The cooking-dog E, with its notches c d, applied, in combination with the hammer and trigger and with a stationary stop, e, to operate, substantially as herein set forth, to effect the cocking of the hammer and tiring.

2. In combination with the above, providing the said cooking-dog with a notch, f, in its extremity to be operated upon by a tooth, g, on the trigger, substantially as described, to operate the piece entirely by the trigger for rapidly-repeated tiring without cocking.

4and as the spring for operating the lockinglever or its equivaleut-substantiall y as herein described.

JOSEPH RIDER.

Witnesses:

J As. R. STANBERY, J AMES WHITE. 

